第三十二回 · 延壽長生 Long Life from His Flesh — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

延壽長生 Long Life from His Flesh

金jīn角jiǎo道dào：「你nǐ不bù曉xiǎo得de。我wǒ當dāng年nián出chū天tiān界jiè，嘗cháng聞wén得de人rén言yán：唐táng僧sēng乃nǎi金jīn蟬chán長zhǎng老lǎo臨lín凡fán，十shí世shì修xiū行xíng的de好hǎo人rén，一yì點diǎn元yuán陽yáng未wèi泄xiè，有yǒu人rén吃chī他tā肉ròu，延yán壽shòu長cháng生shēng哩lī。」銀yín角jiǎo道dào：「若ruò是shì吃chī了le他tā肉ròu就jiù可kě以yǐ延yán壽shòu長cháng生shēng，我wǒ們men打dǎ甚shén麼me坐zuò，立lì甚shén麼me功gōng，煉liàn甚shén麼me龍lóng與yǔ虎hǔ，配pèi甚shén麼me雌cí與yǔ雄xióng？只zhǐ該gāi吃chī他tā去qù了le。等děng我wǒ去qù拿ná他tā來lái。」金jīn角jiǎo道dào：「你nǐ不bù晓xiǎo得de。我wǒ当dāng年nián出chū天tiān界jiè，尝cháng闻wén得de人rén言yán：唐táng僧sēng乃nǎi金jīn蝉chán长zhǎng老lǎo临lín凡fán，十shí世shì修xiū行xíng的de好hǎo人rén，一yì点diǎn元yuán阳yáng未wèi泄xiè，有yǒu人rén吃chī他tā肉ròu，延yán寿shòu长cháng生shēng哩lī。」银yín角jiǎo道dào：「若ruò是shì吃chī了le他tā肉ròu就jiù可kě以yǐ延yán寿shòu长cháng生shēng，我wǒ们men打dǎ甚shén么me坐zuò，立lì甚shén么me功gōng，炼liàn甚shén么me龙lóng与yǔ虎hǔ，配pèi甚shén么me雌cí与yǔ雄xióng？只zhǐ该gāi吃chī他tā去qù了le。等děng我wǒ去qù拿ná他tā来lái。」

逐句解 Line by line

Said Golden-Horn: “You don’t understand. When I left the celestial realm in years past, I heard it said among men that the Tang Monk is the Elder Golden Cicada come down into the mortal world, a good man of ten lifetimes’ cultivation, whose primal yang has never once been spent; and whoever eats his flesh will have his years prolonged and his life extended.”

金蟬長老 (Jīnchán zhǎnglǎo), "the Elder Golden Cicada," the Tang Monk’s prior incarnation. 元陽未泄, "primal yang unspent." 曉得/聞得 — 得 de; 長老 zhǎng but 長生 cháng.

銀yín角jiǎo道dào：「若ruò是shì吃chī了le他tā肉ròu就jiù可kě以yǐ延yán壽shòu長cháng生shēng，我wǒ們men打dǎ甚shén麼me坐zuò，立lì甚shén麼me功gōng，煉liàn甚shén麼me龍lóng與yǔ虎hǔ，配pèi甚shén麼me雌cí與yǔ雄xióng？只zhǐ該gāi吃chī他tā去qù了le。等děng我wǒ去qù拿ná他tā來lái。」银yín角jiǎo道dào：「若ruò是shì吃chī了le他tā肉ròu就jiù可kě以yǐ延yán寿shòu长cháng生shēng，我wǒ们men打dǎ甚shén么me坐zuò，立lì甚shén么me功gōng，炼liàn甚shén么me龙lóng与yǔ虎hǔ，配pèi甚shén么me雌cí与yǔ雄xióng？只zhǐ该gāi吃chī他tā去qù了le。等děng我wǒ去qù拿ná他tā来lái。」

Said Silver-Horn: “If eating his flesh can prolong our years and extend our lives, then why sit in meditation, why build up merit, why refine the dragon and tiger, why mate the female and male? We ought simply to eat him and have done. Let me go and fetch him.”

煉龍與虎，配雌與雄 (liàn lóng yǔ hǔ, pèi cí yǔ xióng), "refine dragon and tiger, mate female and male" — internal-alchemy code. 長生 — 長 cháng; 甚麼 — 甚 shén (four times).

總評 Commentary

Golden-Horn supplies the doctrine that drives the entire novel’s plot: the Tang Monk is the Elder Golden Cicada reincarnated, a man of ten lifetimes’ cultivation whose “primal yang” (元陽) remains unspent, so that to eat his flesh is to gain longevity and long life. This is the standing rationale for every demon’s hunger throughout the Journey, here stated with unusual fullness.

Silver-Horn’s response is a small piece of comic theology: if the monk’s flesh confers immortality directly, then all the disciplines of internal alchemy — meditation, merit, the refining of “dragon and tiger,” the mating of “female and male” — are superfluous. His eagerness reduces the arduous Daoist path to a shortcut, a joke the novel repeatedly plays at its demons’ expense even as it takes the underlying alchemical scheme seriously.